


Twin Study

by Illyrias_Acolyte



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Community: rarewomen, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-30
Updated: 2012-04-30
Packaged: 2017-11-04 15:23:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/395322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illyrias_Acolyte/pseuds/Illyrias_Acolyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ming is let out of jail, Zuko conscripts her help for a little project. Lo and Li have been arrested as traitors, and it's up to Ming to find information to prove their innocence. Meanwhile, flashbacks tell the story of two very different twin sisters who meet up on Ember Island to reconcile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twin Study

Fire Lord Zuko’s first act as leader of his country was to hire back most of the citizens banished during his sister’s time as ruler.  He, his uncle, and Mai had spent days going through missing persons reports, official documents, imprisonment records, and the statements of Fire Nation citizens from every social class and age imaginable. Azula alone had banished dozens of soldiers, the entire company of Imperial Firebenders, and ever y one of her servants and advisors. Zuko had decided (with a little gentle prodding from his Uncle) to put under review every citizen banished or imprisoned by his father as well. Not all of them had needed an in-depth review. One of the first had been a Waterbender, a former prisoner of the Fire Nation living undercover for years, so he’d asked for Katara’s advice. She strongly opposed her release, and after hearing Katara’s story, Zuko soon understood why.

It was the second month of his reign, and Zuko had barely gotten through a quarter of the appeals system. Whoever wrote into the laws that only a Fire Lord himself could pardon condemned criminals and the banished should have a bucket of slug-snakes poured down his pants, in Zuko’s opinion. Is this what Azula wanted, this responsibility? Is this what being Fire Lord meant?

Zuko had no time to entertain these thoughts as his first parolee of the morning came in, another among a seemingly endless sea of soldiers, banished on a whim for reasons that only made sense to his crazed sister. She was dressed in the traditional a bland tan top and matching pants. Her hair was a rat’s nest, flowing freely down by her shoulders in a tangle of chaos. She cast an envious eye at the two guards who carried her in before they let go of her shoulders. She knelt on the palace tile in front of Zuko.

 “Parolee, announce yourself.”

“Ming, soldier of the Fire Nation.”

 “Soldier Ming, please explain the terms of your banishment.” Zuko could tell that speaking directly to the Fire Lord was making this soldier uncomfortable. “You are free to speak as you wish without consequence or fear of execution.”

“Your sister, Princess Azula, did not take the events that happened at the Boiling Rock well,” Ming said, and Zuko had to stifle a tiny laugh at the understatement. “When she had Mai and Ty Lee thrown in the prison at the Palace, the same one where I worked. I think Mai was even in the same cell as your uncle was during the Day of Black Sun. Azula’s friend Ty Lee and some of the Kyoshi Warriors managed to escape while I was on duty.  Azula was looking for a scapegoat to blame for the breakout. She correctly guessed my friendship with Iroh was the reason I was not in the palace on the Day of Black Sun, and she decided to banish me for it.”

“I see,” Zuko said. He had already had the Fire Sage Shyu look up her case as part of his duties for the official royal cabinet, and had the official version of the events.  It played out very much like Ming described, only with Azula as a heroine preserving national security. The story he’d heard from Ty Lee very much matched Ming’s, although she gave a much more detailed description of the “cuteness” of the other defending guards.

“I was then imprisoned within the Boiling Rock. It hasn’t been long, but it’s been long enough. I didn’t break Ty Lee and the Kyoshi Warriors out of jail, I swear it. I would never betray the Fire Nation, not for anything.”  Zuko saw the desperation in her eyes.

“Ming, my uncle Iroh has already spoken to me of your kindness to him during his imprisonment,” Zuko began. “He would speak for you personally if he was not on the other side of the world in Ba Sing Se, but I consider his previous testimony evidence enough on your character. Besides, I desperately need people around me who I can count on. I feel like I can count on you. Can I, Ming?”

“Absolutely, my Lord,” Ming said eagerly. She toned the eagerness in her voice down a little before repeating the statement. “You are the Fire Lord, after all.”

“Would you be just as loyal to my sister if it was her sitting here instead of me?”

“I would be obligated to, my Lord.”

“I’m not talking about your obligations, Ming,” Zuko said with a wave of his hand. “I’m talking about your heart. Would you be loyal in spirit to my sister, or my father?”

“No, my Lord,” Ming said after a little bit of thought. “But I would be as loyal to your uncle.”

“Thank you, Ming,” Zuko said. He clapped his hands, and the two guards undid the shackles holding Ming’s hands and feet together. They clattered to the tile with an audible _clank_ as Ming rubbed her wrists. She rose, and bowed low. “Rise, Ming. You will hereby be reinstated as a member of the Fire Nation Guard.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” Ming said as she rose out of her bow. “Is that all, my Lord?”

“Not quite,” Zuko began. “As you have no doubt guessed, I am trying to review as many cases as possible. I need to determine who I can trust in the Fire Nation, and who deserves to be in prison. You obviously didn’t. There are some other cases which aren’t so obvious.

 “Here is what I would like from you, Ming,” Zuko finished. “As you know, Azula banished quite a few citizens from the Fire Nation, soldiers, citizens, servants, and more importantly, advisors. I need people around me who I can trust.  I have an advising cabinet that is busy with other matters, and I need someone who can help me find objective research on these banished citizens.

“My sister’s Firebending teachers, Li and Lo, were among those banished. They were among my sister’s most trusted advisors, and very, very loyal to her. I have my spies looking for them now, to bring them back for their own trial. I need to know if they deserved their banishment or not. I need someone to know what kind of people they are. Can find that evidence for me, Ming?”

“I can, Fire Lord Zuko.”

“Good.” Zuko pressed into a wax seal with a ring on his finger. The wax dried as he handed it to a grey-haired soldier with large sideburns. “This is your official commission, and will allow you to view any government documents you need to complete your assignment. Show it to the royal gatekeeper in the Library near the edge of the capital, and you’ll be able to get in and check out any books you like. You will be accompanied by my friend, Captain Jee, for protection, and a serving girl who has also been pardoned for help. I just want to know about these two women, Li and Lo.”

“Have you talked to them personally, my Lord?”

“I haven’t,” Zuko replied. “I don’t know their side of the story. I’d like to have it, but since they spent so much time with my sister, I need sources I can trust. I need you to go track down some information on what they’re like. Take as much time as you think you need, but remember, livelihoods are at stake.” Zuko watched as Ming bowed deeply and departed from the throne room. He was no longer worried about Li and Lo’s trial. He was sure they were in safe hands.

***

_Lo took a deep breath. She felt the brown leather soft against her shoes, the wind through her tied up hair, and the string of her bow pressing against her thumb and forefinger. Carefully, and with practiced precision, she aimed her shot at the target and took it. The arrow struck the target almost dead center. Lo cracked a tiny smile._

_“Not good enough.” The rough, critical voice belonged to her boyfriend, Shing. “You’ll never get into the Yu Yan Archers with shooting like that.”_

_“I hit the target, didn’t I?”_

_“Yes, you did,” he said, and Lo waited for the rest. “You hit the target… two seconds too late and three inches too far to the right. If this were a battle, that spy would have gotten away and informed the enemy of your location.”_

_“Shing, it’s a target,” Lo replied testily. “It’s made of wood and straw and painted with crushed berries. It’s not going anywhere.”_

_“That isn’t the point and you know it.”_

_“Do I?” Lo snapped. “I’ve been trying this for years and I’m still not good enough!”_

_“Lo, it’s only been a few months.”_

_“It feels like longer,” Lo mumbled as she slung the bow over her shoulder. “I can’t do this.”_

_“Not with that attitude, no,” Shing replied. He dropped his arms from their folded position and grabbed his own bow from the table in front of her. Within a few seconds he had fitted his arrow, raised it up to firing position, and loosed his arrow at the target. It struck a perfect bullseye. “Do you see what I did?”_

_“No, because your freak hands moved way too fast,” Lo huffed._

_“Exactly my point,” Shing said as he set his bow down. “I moved too fast for you to see what I was doing. That extra two seconds you wasted aiming could mean the difference between life and death, between victory and defeat. You need to learn to train harder. Your career with the Fire Nation depends on this.”_

_He was right, of course. Lo knew this. She had no illusions about how poor her archery was thanks to Shing. He was a very good trainer, and did not stand for anything less than perfection, which was exactly what Lo needed if she was going to get into the Yu Yan Archers._

_Lo fitted an arrow to her bow, brought it up, and let the arrow fly at the target with the same speed that Shing had used. It struck at an area somewhere close to the middle between the outside of the target and the center, on the third ring from the outside. Lo swore under her breath._

_“Again.”_

_As soon as Shing spoke, Lo repeated the process and hit an area even further away from the target. She fired again, and again, and again, each time with the correct amount of speed but with none of the accuracy she needed. She swore loudly this time._

_“This is not the behavior of a Fire Nation Soldier, much less one of the elite warriors of the Yu Yan,” he barked. “Fire ten more shots for your indiscretion.” Lo grumbled and fired her ten required shots grudgingly. None of them hit the bull’s eye. She repeated the process for the next several hours._

***

The three companions strolled down the streets of the Fire Nation Capital. The bustling streets teemed with life as they had during the War. They hummed with the life of a market that was untouched by the ravages of war and yet nourished by its existence far away. Shopkeepers hocked their wares at the passersby as the trio walked down the street. Ming missed the smell of the marketplace.

She came through these streets thousands of times to visit her father at his tea shop, helping him grow and trim and pluck and crush the tea leaves into forms that could be brewed. Her father was the most skilled tea maker she knew, and one of only a few people in the world who knew how to brew a poisonous White Jade Flower into a drinkable tea. If matched carefully with the exact amount of the right ingredients, it could be quite delicious, not unlike Sodium and Chloride being combined to make common table salt. He had instructed Ming in the art of tea-making, including brewing the White Jade Flower into a delicious tea.

“Wow, I haven’t seen it so lively in months,” said the serving girl marveled. “It was practically dead after the fall of Ba Sing Se.”

“I remember when it was bustling like this before,” Ming replied. “I used to come here constantly to work at our family tea booth.”

“Your family has a tea booth?”

“Yes. My father and I worked there,” Ming remarked. “The booth is on the other side of the palace, but I would stop by to see him whenever I got the chance. I worked for him for a few years before I got accepted into the palace guard. By the way, I don’t believe I ever got your name.”

“I don’t believe I ever offered it,” the serving girl said. Her cheeks reddened a little. “Forgetfulness is one of the personality traits I’m not so proud of. My name is Zhen. You’re Ming, right?”

“I am.”

“I wanted to apply for the navy,” Zhen said absentmindedly. “My family has served the Fire Nation Armada for many generations. Eventually my little brother got a post. He’s much better at it than I could ever hope to be. I’m still a little jealous of him though.”

“He must be busy nowadays during the country’s reformation,” Ming remarked.

“No more so than the Fire Lord,” said the grey-haired soldier Zuko had called Jee. “He has foreign relations to mend, policies to review, and he tries to pardon as many people as he can as quickly as he can, but the process is needlessly lengthy and complex in many cases. It is one of the rules he plans to revise as soon as he has the time.” Ming nodded.

“Azula banished me as well,” the serving girl said. “On the day of her coronation, the day that the Waterbender defeated her. She banished me for leaving a pit in her peach, can you believe it? She said I might have killed her, all over a mistake! I’m glad she’s not here anymore, aren’t you?”

“Azula was the one in charge,” Ming said. “She was in charge of the Palace while her father was away. All decisions were lawfully hers to make.”

“You don’t really thing that’s right, do you?” Zhen replied incredulously. “I mean, Azula was a monster, a complete monster. I don’t see how anyone would willingly follow her.”

“It’s not a question of right or wrong, but a question of duty,” Jee replied. “Do you think I liked following Zuko into exile? He was my Lord, and I was bound to follow him. When Admiral Zhao took over his ship, I was bound to follow the Admiral. I’m just glad that Zuko took the throne back before his father and sister did any real damage.”

“No real damage?” Zhen cried. “You’ve been outside of the Fire Nation. You should know better than anyone else how real the damage they did is. The lasting effects are still being felt all around the world, especially outside the Fire Nation. I’m a little offended at the idea that none of the damage was real.”

“He’s not arguing that,” Ming said. “None of what Ozai or Azula did was irreversible. Ozai was stopped by the Avatar before he could commit the genocide of the Earth Kingdom, like his grandfather did with the Air Nomads. The War cost us lives, and homes, and untold material wealth, but major losses…” She trailed off.

Zhen didn’t reply, as they’d arrived at the library. The gatekeeper was very, very old, and looked over a hundred as if he could remember a time before Sozin’s war. He was wearing a flowing red robe and gold-rimmed spectacles. He grinned toothlessly as the three approached.

 “Please state your names for the official records,” he said, and each of the three travelers snapped to attention.  

“Ming, soldier of the Fire Nation.”

“Captain Jee of the Fire Nation Navy.”

“Zhen, attendant to the Fire Lord.”

“What is your business here?” the gatekeeper asked.

Ming stepped forward. “I come here on commission from the Fire Lord,” she said, and handed the paper to the gatekeeper. He reached a withered hand out towards her, and peered at the seal over his long, thin nose. After grinning brightly, he handed it back to Ming and pulled a key out of his robes. The great gate creaked open as he turned the key in the lock, and Zhen, Jee, and Ming stepped into the Library courtyard.

***

_Fifteen-year-old Li gripped the wrench tightly in her hands. This contraption would work if she had to smash it to bits and rebuild it from scratch in the process. She twisted a few of the nuts tighter onto their screws, tightened a few bolts up higher, and screwed off the access panel. She wiped sweat off her forehead, not realizing how futile it was to clean herself with grease-streaked arms. Her well-trained eyes scanned the wiry insides of the mechanism for breaks, twists, or mistakes of any kind, and didn’t find anything for a few moments. She saw the problem. Snapping on her rubber gloves, she thrust her hands into the tangled mess and found the two red wires mistakenly connected to two blue wires. Snapping the proper colors together, she pulled herself out of the tiny hole and cupped her hands around her mouth._

_“Try it now, Xiao Chen,” Li roared as loud as she could so her friend could hear her from inside the tank’s cockpit. A few seconds later, Li smiled as the tank roared to life, the sound telling her she had found the problem. A sweaty, brown-haired head stuck out of the cockpit about twenty feet in front of her and winked. She gave Xiao Chen a thumbs up. After he had climbed down the tank’s access ladder he came over and clapped her on the back._

_“Li, I swear you could fix anything that runs on electricity,” he said as she pretended to be modest._

_“Oh please,” she sighed with a melodramatic flick of her wrist. “You’re embarrassing me.”_

_“If you’re embarrassed, then I’m a platypus-bear,” Xiao Chen said playfully. “You have such a knack for knowing how things are put together. Listen, I know you don’t really want to talk about this, but you could make a killing as a doctor working with my father. He’s already said that he’d be more than willing to take you on as an apprentice. You could learn to be as good with people as you are with machines.”_

_“Xiao Chen, we’ve talked about this about a thousand times,” Li said. “I like machines. I get along with them, and they get along with me. People, on the other hand, can be a different story.”_

_“People can tell you when they’re sick.”_

_“Machines don’t lie to you, they’re always grateful, and they’re never surly.”_

_“You’re a mystery, Li,” Xiao Chen remarked with a shake of his head. “I fear I’ll never be able to understand you.”_

_Li stuck her head back in the machine to see if she could find a way to make the connection stick in a way that it hadn’t last time. She wasn’t sure who had hooked it up improperly, but she would make sure that it didn’t happen a second time. She felt a tapping on her shoulder and pulled her torso out of the machine. Xiao Chen was holding something._

_“This came in the mail for you,” Xiao Chen said, holding out a letter. “It’s addressed to your entire family, but since your parents are both out…” Li was listening tangentially as she tore the envelope open._

Dear parents, siblings, and other family of Lo,

Your family member has applied for, and passed, the test to join the prestigious Yu Yan Archers. She has been given the chance to join. Lo will be returning home for three days to discuss the opportunity with her loved ones, and then will be formally asked if she would like to offer her services for the glory of the Fire nation and Lord Azulon. Enclosed are all official forms and documents you will want to look over.

_Li smiled so widely that it covered her entire face. She didn’t get to the rest of the letter as she tossed it to the ground and wrapped Xiao Chen with a crushing bear hug._

***

The search in the Library was not completely fruitless, but neither was it helpful. Ming’s search had produced many official documents written up and signed by the twins, Li and Lo, as well as progress reports for Azula’s firebending, but nothing on what sort of person they were. Ming decided she needed to find out something more. She couldn’t just use hard facts. She couldn’t just use objective information. Ming needed to find something less quantifiable.

“Did you find anything useful?” The serving girl had with her a basket of fruits and bread. She held an apple out to Ming, who took it.

“I’ve got some official documents,” Ming replied, pointing to her folder as she took a bite out of her apple. “Censuses, firebending training sessions for Princess Azula, birth records, family trees, and all sorts of government papers.”

“But won’t the Fire Lord be happy with all of that?”

“He will, but not happy enough,” Ming took another bite and spoke around it. “His sister would have been happier. She wouldn’t have cared what kind of people they are. That’s exactly what he told me to find.”

“Who were they?”

“They trained Azula,” Ming began, swallowing the bite of apple. “They’ve worked for the royal family since they were young. One of them was even up for a position in the Yu Yan Archers at one point.”

“Which one?” Zhen asked.

“I don’t remember,” Ming replied honestly. “I have trouble telling them apart.”

“Oh,” Zhen said. She sounded vaguely offended. “Well, I suppose they are twins, after all.”

“I’m not sure where to look next,” Jee remarked. “I was banished with the Fire Lord as well, back when he was simply a disgraced Prince, and I’ve been in jail since Admiral Zhao’s disastrous attack on the Northern Water tribe, so my knowledge of these women is spotty at best.”

“I’ve met them quite often,” Zhen replied. “But most of what I know about them comes back to their loyalties to Azula. They followed her unquestioningly, and all the time. I don’t think they ever realized how wrong that was.”

“They were made Azula’s servants by the Fire Lord,” Ming pointed out. “They had no choice but to follow his orders, and hers. One’s own opinions do not matter in a monarchy. If anyone should know that, it’s three banished government employees.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s right,” Zhen huffed, her arms crossed.

“But I think I know where to go to find something a little more personal,” Ming finished. “We’ll just need to charter a boat. Captain Jee, can you get us one?” He nodded, and went off to ready a ferry for the three of them.

****

_Lo quickly tied the bowstring to her weapon. She slung the quiver of arrows over her shoulder and slapped her armbands over her wrists. She draped the bow across her arm and slung it over her shoulder. Her family hadn’t been to Ember Island since… she couldn’t even remember. It had been ages, back when she and Li were still speaking. They used to go every year. They used to go with their family, the four of them together._

_She stepped off the boat on the docks, and looked for a mirror image of herself, her twin sister, Li. She couldn’t see her anywhere, no matter where she looked. Lo sighed. It was just like Li to be late. Ever since she was a little girl, Li had been like this. She sighed. It would be easier just to go back to her parents’ house. They wouldn’t be happy to see her, but with her mother in the Palace Guard and her father away looking after patients, the chances that they would be home were small._

_She walked back through the streets to the house where she grew up, and noticed that it had barely changed. She had only been gone four years, but it was exactly the same as she remembered, without a single change, it seemed. The paper doors were a little more worn, and Lo didn’t remember quite so many bushes in her front yard, but beyond that, it seemed everything was exactly the same. She walked up to the front door and pushed it open. Li rocketed herself into the air as Lo opened the paper door. Lo rolled her eyes._

_“Lo!” Li crushed her twin sister in a bear hug that anyone else wouldn’t have known enough to expect from her. For a lithe, tiny fifteen-year-old, Li was deceptively strong. Her bright golden eyes and brown hair matched her twin’s exactly. As stupid as it sounded in her head, Lo had forgotten just how much they looked alike._

_“Hello, sister,” Lo said with as much apathy as she could muster. “How have you been?”_

_“Spectacular!” Li said with a grin. “Am I hugging you too hard? I feel like I might be hugging you too hard.”_

_“I remember,” Lo said. She had; amidst all of the other foggy memories of her twin, this one was strong and clear. Li gave big hugs._

_“How is your training going?” Li asked brightly. “I hear you got an invitation to join the Yu Yan Archers! I’m so proud. We’re all proud.” The corners of Lo’s eyes began to crinkle._

_“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Lo replied. “I haven’t been accepted, not yet. I’ve been invited to try to join. You know how exclusive the Archers are.”_

_Li nodded. Lo let the pause hang between them like barbed wire, and neither of the sisters spoke for a moment. Li, obviously tired of the lack of chatter, piped up after a few long minutes of silence._

_“Mom and Dad will be so happy to see you.”_

_“I seriously doubt that.”_

_“You don’t think they’ll be proud of you for accomplishing something that no one else in our family ever has?” Li tilted her head questioningly._

_“No one else in our family has ever tried,” Lo pointed out.  “Have you noticed that, in the past fifteen generations, not one of our personal or extended family members has gotten a position beyond  ‘Palace Guard’. I’m breaking tradition. That will make them unhappy.”_

_“Oh Lo,” Li said with a giggle. “I don’t think they’ll care about that. Come, there’s a volleyball game going on in a few hours that you simply must be a part of. It’s going to be held on the beach where we used to play as girls, remember?” Lo did remember. She remembered most everything about her history here._

_“I would love to go, Li,” she replied. Truthfully, she would. It would give her something to do, and keep her mind from wandering to what her parents would do when they found out she’d returned. Besides, she missed playing sports for fun, and if Li was going anyway, she might as well keep her sister company._

***

Ming had never been to Ember Island before in her life. It isn’t officially designated for rich patrons only, but the Island had simply evolved along those lines. The most powerful and influential citizens of the Fire Nation had homes there, both permanent and for vacation, and a poor but talented tea-maker was never one of the ones on the list. He wasn’t indentured to any noble either, and so would never be employed as a house sitter or cleaner. Ming would relish this opportunity as she might never get it again.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Zhen remarked breathlessly. Ming had to agree. Even in the already balmy and beautiful Fire Nation, it appeared even warmer and more inviting. With its glittering water and bright, sandy beaches, Ember Island looked like a paradise.

“Have you been before?” Ming asked Zhen, and the serving girl nodded her head.

“I accompanied Azula a few times when they were younger,” she replied. “Since the Princess was so fiercely independent, I was basically free to do as I wished. I went every year to see the Ember Island Players. I wish I’d gotten to see _The Boy in the Iceberg_ this year. I’ve heard it’s side-splittingly funny.”

“The play about the Avatar?” Ming had never met the Avatar, but had seen him from afar once during the now infamous Day of Black Sun. She been on vacation, like Iroh had suggested, but ran back the moment she heard the Capital was under attack. She’d seen him fly away on his, whatever that flying monster was called, as the Fire Nation soldiers captured the remaining rebels.

“It’s not very accurate,” Jee said. “I met the Avatar a few times, and although it was brief, I can tell that he was depicted pretty poorly. I got to see one of the showings they did after the war ended. The character was all wrong, and they tried to cram too much of the Avatar’s adventures into a single, five-act play. Aang’s story did not translate well into that format.”

“My, how disappointing,” Zhen sighed. “I was hoping to learn more about the boy who took down Ozai. He must have been spectacular. Only a spectacular person could do something so amazing, not someone like you or me.”

“Why do you say that?” Ming asked.

“Well, I mean, we’re just the little people,” Zhen replied “Jee said he met the Avatar. Did he even appear in the play?”

“Briefly,” Jee said bitterly. “I had one line. I said ‘I mislike this stormy weather’ before getting yelled at by Iroh. It was… embarrassing.”

“See? All the people who got mentioned in the play were extraordinary; Aang, Zuko, Azula, those Water Tribe siblings, the blind girl… Jee here was directly involved in the story and barely even qualified as a supporting character. How many others were involved in the story that didn’t get mentioned? How many people are there who are like us, people who are never going to get inked down in a history scroll?”

Ming had to admit, to herself if not out loud, that Zhen had a point. When the war was inked down for a scroll in the library, who would it be about? Certainly not them. Certainly not her.

****

_The volleyball sailed over the net in a brilliant serve. Xiao Chen was extremely talented at this game. Li had always known that he had a talent for tinkering, but she kept being surprised by everything else he could do. She saw the ball come to her, spiked it high in the air, and watched as Lo’s friend Shing hit it hard and scored them a point._

_“Alright!”  Li cried at the top of her lungs. She searched for her sister, who was playing the spot behind Shing, the only spot where she and her sister would never be next to each other. Oh well. At least Lo was out playing a nice, friendly game of volleyball._

_“Twelve serving six,” Xiao Chen said. He could hardly keep the smile off his face anymore. They were going to win, and both teams knew it. Xiao Chen served the ball again, and when it got returned over the net, Lo caught it and passed it to Li. Li jumped up for a spike when she saw Shing jumping over out of the corner of her eye. He took the spike from her, but since he was coming at it from the wrong angle, it landed just out of bounds. The server on the other team grinned as he went after the ball._

_“Seven serving twelve,” he said a little snidely, and served. The ball soared over Shing’s head to Lo, and he backed into her trying to hit it back over. The ball fell in the sand. “Eight serving twelve.” The serve was returned by Shing, and when his shot was returned, he knocked Li over trying to hit it back. It promptly went into the net and landed in front of Li. She stood angrily._

_“What are you doing, Shing?” Li asked._

_“I’m playing volleyball, what does it look like?”_

_“You’re being a ball hog something fierce,” Li said, her hands on her hips. “There are three other people on the field with you.”_

_“It wouldn’t hurt you to let someone else take a spike every now and then,” Xiao Chen added._

_“Well everyone else isn’t as good at this game as I am,” Shing retorted. “Right, Lo?” Lo nodded. “See, she agrees with me.”_

_“Volleyball is a team sport,” Li said. “You’re playing on a_ team _, Shing. We’re all here to help you.”_

_“I told you, I don’t need help from either of you,” Shing spat. “I’m better at volleyball, and I could beat you with my hands behind my back.”_

_“Care to make good on that?” Li said, getting right up in his face. “I challenge you to a one-on-one match, you versus me, so you can put your gold where your big mouth is.”_

_“I don’t accept,” Shing replied. “We’re in the middle of a match now.”_

_“When we finish.”_

_“Fine.” Shing moved back to his spot. Soon, they scored the extra three points it would have taken them to win, and everyone moved off the court to let Li and Shing face off. Xiao Chen stood next to Lo as Li and Shing faced off._

_“First to five wins, volley for serve,” Li said as she tossed the ball over the net. “One.”_

_“Two.” Shing returned it._

_“Three.” As soon as Li said the word, she balled her hand up into a fist and spiked the ball into the sand near Shing’s feet. “My serve.” Shing grumbled and grudgingly tossed the ball over the net so Li could catch it gingerly. Li served the ball just over the net, and Shing returned it with ease. The two volleyed the ball back and forth until Shing’s foot caught in the sand, pulling his shot down and causing him to hit the ball straight into the net._

_“One serving nothing,” Li said after she retrieved the ball. Shing frowned. Their back and forth continued after Li’s serve soared over the net. Shing hit it high into the air, and Li jumped up for a perfect spike. Shing blocked it, sending it flying up towards the sun and spiked it into the sand just out of Li’s reach._

_“Ones,” Shing said with a smirk as Li tossed him the ball under the net. “You’ll have to do better than this. Li scored another point, Shing came back from behind, and soon the two opponents were tied at four points each. It was Shing’s serve._

_He hit the ball in a nice, careful arc over the net. Li returned it, knowing the next point would win the game. Shing jumped up and prepared for a wicked spike, but Li was too quick. She jumped into the air and put her hand up, palm flat and angled to his left, right as his spike connected. The ball bounced off her hand and curved to his side while Shing watched in horror and alarm. The ball hit the sand. The match was over._

_“I win,” Li gloated._

_“I demand a rematch,” Shing said as his voice increased in volume._

_“Tough break,” Li said. “You lost fair and square.  Suck it up and take your defeat like a man.” Shing did not reply, and simply stormed off towards the house._

****

The house belonging to the Fire Nation Royal Family had become something of a tourist attraction. Ever since Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar had stayed there together, peacefully, people from across the Fire Nation had flocked to the Island to see it. Because of this, Zuko had forgone the use of the home as a vacation spot. Jee had sent a messenger hawk to Zuko, asking permission to use any evidence they found in the house, and he had agreed.

The main rooms in the house had nothing worth using, and neither did the courtyard. Ming frowned. This assignment was proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated. She decided to check upstairs next, in the attic. It was dusty up there, and it stank like old age. It was cluttered with the junk that a family with two kids on vacation would generally produce, like toys and games and even a picture of one of them as a child. Ming wasn’t sure which one, but it looked a great deal like a young Zuko.

“Yes, this is the place,” Zhen remarked for no particular reason. “I recognize most of these toys. None of them belonged to Azula. She burned all the ones she didn’t want.” Ming wanted to chuckle, but she knew Zhen was being very serious.

“Let’s fan out and see what we can find,” Ming said. She and Zhen began to rummage around the room, each of them coming up empty-handed until Ming pulled up a stack of leather-bound books wrapped in string. They had the characters for Lo and Li written on the front. Ming smiled. “Zhen! Over here!”

***

_Six people sat at a circular table in the open dining room of the Ember Island hut. Li watched warily as her sister spread imported butter across a piece of ash banana bread. Li’s eyes were not the only ones watching Lo; both their parents were closely observing her as well._

_“How is your training going, Lo?” their mother asked through pursed lips._

_“She needs a great deal of work,” Shing answered before Lo could reply. “She will not bring glory to Fire Lord Azulon with her current methods of shooting.”_

_“I was not asking you,” she shot back. Li knew that her mother did not tolerate this kind of talk from her and her twin. Shing obviously did not know that. “I was asking my daughter, Lo. Who are you to put words in her mouth?”_

_“Honored Mei Lee,” Shing said, addressing their mother. “And Jiao Cheng, I was asked to be your daughter’s archery teacher. I cannot train her if she does not listen to me. I cannot train her if she interrupts me, so I have trained her not to.” Li held her tongue. “She needs to learn to listen.”_

_“That was always a problem with Lo as a young girl,” Jiao Cheng said between bites of roasted duck-seal. “So fiercely independent. I’m glad you’ve gotten her to follow orders.” Li did not mention that she liked her sister better the way she was._

_“So, Lo,” Li asked. “How do you like getting away from the Capital for a bit? What are the outer Islands like?”_

_“We don’t go out there much,” Shing answered for her. “But it seems nice enough.”_

_“I like the meditation a lot,” Lo added. “It’s based on traditional Firebending forms, and we go quite in-depth with the history of-”_

_“It’s not as exciting or helpful as it sounds,” Shing interrupted. “All of that meditation stuff gets in the way of my shooting ability. All you have to do is point and fire. I’m not sure how sitting around in silence is supposed to make that any easier. They should do more practice, in my opinion.”_

_“It clears my head,” Lo replied. “It helps me focus.”_

_“What do you have in your head that needs clearing?” Shing asked with a chuckle. He was the only one at the table who was amused. Mei Lee narrowed her eyes at him. “Sorry.”_

_“We are proud of the Yu Yan Archers, but our family members have never been on the front lines before,” Jiao Cheng noted. Shing lowered his head in shame._

_“I like being on the front lines,” Lo argued. “It’s good for my country and my honor. I am helping our country.”_

_“Your sister stayed to help out her family,” Jiao Cheng replied coolly. “You made no such sacrifice.”_

_“I joined the Archers to bring glory to you and to the Fire Nation.”_

_“You joined the Archers because you had no regard for our wants and feelings,” Mei Lee snapped. “You left home and went off to find yourself. We were scared for you. You could have been anywhere. Anything could have happened. Do you know how frightening it is to have people you love just disappear!?” No one spoke for a moment, and it was the longest moment any of the six dinner guests had ever experienced. Lo furrowed her brow and got up from the table._

_“I am excusing myself,” she said curtly, and left the table. Her single-minded walk to the door took her through their garden, out into the streets, and onto the beach where she had played earlier in the day. It was there that she sulked for the better part of an hour._

***

“Can we use these?” Zhen’s question hung in the air like smog. They appeared genuine, so there was really no reason not to.

“I think we could,” Ming replied. “There’s nothing more personal than a diary.” Ming had to admit, she was extremely curious to read what was written in these ancient, dusty, leather-bound things. Ming herself had kept a diary for a number of years, though she’d stopped once she joined the Fire Nation Guard. Quarters were simply too close to keep any kind of secret document, well, a secret, so she’d given up altogether. Besides, she hadn’t had much reason to keep secrets after joining the guard. She lived in a barracks with twenty other women who shared five bathrooms and a dining hall. Secrecy was never an issue because there never was any.

“People might say that Zuko planted them there when he visited Ember Island,” Jee remarked. “Not everyone is as accepting of his role as Fire Lord as we are. They might say he planted evidence to find them innocent.”

“The two advisors to his crazy sister?” Ming said. “At worst, he’ll look incompetent by hiring the people who advised the sister who almost killed him. At best, he’ll look like a merciful and compassionate ruler. Really, what have we got to lose?” Zhen nodded, but Jee still looked skeptical. His arms were crossed and his brow was furrowed in thought.

“I’m still not sure they deserve a chance at freedom,” he said.

“Everyone deserves a chance at freedom,” Ming retorted. “Even Azula, even Ozai. If Zuko was able to spare them, why shouldn’t he spare Lo and Li?”

“Maybe Zuko shouldn’t have spared them.”

“Why would you say something like that?” Ming snapped. “No matter what else they were responsible for, they’re still his family. If Zuko murders his father, he’ll become his father. The Avatar knew that, and Zuko saw the wisdom in it.”

“I suppose,” Jee relented as he flipped through the pages of one of the notebooks. “Well, let’s dig into the notebooks and see what we can find.”

Ming opened up the notebook she held in her hands and turned to a random page. It seemed she had gotten Lo’s diary, or was it Li? Whichever it was, the diary entry talked about the Yu Yan Archers, and how she had to turn down their offer. Why? Ming was curious, and read on.

***

_Shing pulled Lo closer as Li stared into the fire. The ocean waves lapped reassuringly against the sandy beaches. The sky was dark, and looked a deep shade of navy blue with the fire lighting their vision._

_Lo was still stewing over what happened at dinner, and the other three could see it. Li knew better than to say anything to her. Of all the things that were different between the two twins, the need for personal space was not among them. Li waited for her sister to speak, but she said nothing._

_“I’m glad you came back, Lo,” Li said finally. “It was good to see you.”_

_“I think you’re the only one who feels like that,” Lo snorted. “Mother and Father seemed none too happy to see me.”_

_“They’re just worried about you, like they always are,” Li assured her. “Like I am.”_

_“I can take care of myself,” Lo huffed. She shrugged Shing’s arm off her shoulder. “I don’t need you and Mommy and Daddy looking after me all the time. I’m fifteen years old! I might leave the Capital with the Yu Yan Archers tomorrow, and go off to war against some Earth Kingdom army! I could literally be fighting within the next two days. I’ve grown up now, and you and our parents just need to accept that and move on.”_

_“Lo, please,” Shing chided. “As a member of the Yu Yan Archers, you’ll need to learn to control your emotions a lot better.”_

_“Didn’t I just say that I have no desire to be babied, Shing?” Lo snapped. “You need to learn to let your words simmer in your head a little longer before saying them.”_

_“You don’t get to talk to me that way!” Shing shouted. “I’m your supervisor! Without me, you have no way into the Yu Yan Archers!”_

_“Well maybe I don’t want to be in the Yu Yan Archers_ that _badly,” Lo said after a moment of careful thought. “If every single archer is like you, maybe I’m better off somewhere else.”_

_“You can’t just-”_

_“_ You _can’t just,” Li chimed in. “Who are you to think you can talk like that to my twin sister? I’d offer to defend her honor if it wasn’t so obvious that she’d do it herself.”_

_“You’re better off not arguing with Li,” Xiao Chen added. “It’s like teaching a pig-weasel to sing; you’ll both be irritated, and you’re likely to get bitten in the process.”_

_“If she bites me, I’ll bite her back,” Shing threatened as he rolled his sleeves up._

_“I’ve had just about enough of your-” Li did not make it to the end of her sentence, as Shing struck her across the face. She fell down to the ground and rubbed her swelling cheek. “You hit me! You jerk! You actually hit me!”_

_“You deserved it,” Shing said as he spat into the fire. “You don’t get to talk to me like that. You don’t-” Shing flew into the sand as Lo lowered her foot. The high kick she had delivered had knocked him head over heels._

_“You heartless wretch!” Shing yelled. He swung his fist in her direction and Lo ducked out of the way. Li, mirroring her twin’s movements, crept up behind him, and the two ladies sandwiched him between their feet in a joint, unplanned high kick._

_“You leave my sister alone,” Lo began._

_“Or I’m going to hurt you,” Li finished._

_“Badly.”  They said the word together as they withdrew their feet from Shing’s chest and back. He began to cough and crumpled to his knees as the twin sisters smiled at each other. Li patted Lo on the back, but Lo drew her into a big hug, and the sisters walked with Xiao Chen away from the broken man lying in the ocean’s wake._

***

Journals in hand, Ming reentered the throne room of the Fire Nation Palace under Jee’s guard. Zhen followed closely behind, and they were accompanied by five other soldiers in Fire Nation garb. The journals found in the attic of the Royal Family’s vacation home were secure in Ming’s arms as she bowed before the young Fire Lord. The old twins were held in chains next to her by another pair of soldiers.

“Soldier Ming, do you have evidence to prove the sisters Lo and Li innocent of their alleged treasonous charges?” Zuko was seated high on his throne, and looked even further away from Ming’s bowing position on the floor.

“I have, Fire Lord Zuko,” she answered, and held the journals out.  “These are the journals of the sisters that I found in the attic of the Royal Family’s vacation house on Ember Island.”

“They held up after all these years?”

Ming saw a twinkle in Li’s eye as she saw the bound notebooks Ming offered to one of the Guards. He brought the notebooks to Zuko.

“Have you read through them?”

“We have, your Highness,” Ming replied. “The sisters were not working for Azula, but for the good of the Fire Nation. They will be loyal servants for you, Fire Lord Zuko.”

“Your evidence confirms my suspicions,” Zuko said, and he clapped his hands. The two guards released the twins from their shackles, and they rubbed their withered joints. “You may all leave me now. I will send for you again. Thank you, Captain Jee. Please resume your post.”

Zhen, Ming, Li, and Lo left the Palace and wandered into the brightly lit courtyard. The color seemed to be coming back into Li and Lo’s cheeks already. Zhen bowed to them, and then to Ming.

“I must leave now, Ming,” Zhen said. “I have many other duties to attend to.”

“Thank you for your help,” said Ming as she returned the bow. “I am glad to have met you.” Zhen turned around and went back into the palace.

“And thank _you_ , Soldier Ming,” Lo said with a deep bow.

“We are in your debt,” Li said, bowing as well.

“It was my pleasure, ladies,” Ming replied kindly. She bowed to them as they righted themselves. “You were truly innocent, and heroes of the Fire Nation.”

“We’re glad you see it that way, Ming,” Lo remarked. “By the way, we have a question for you.”

“Do you play Pai Sho?” Li asked.

“I used to play with my father sometimes,” Ming answered. “Why do you ask?”

The old women giggled, and Lo said, “Oh, no reason.” 

*** THE END ***

 


End file.
